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CU-Boulder students arrested on 4/20 to fight charges on First Amendment grounds

Students plead not guilty, plan to file motion to dismiss

By Mitchell Byars, Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
05/24/2012 03:49:28 PM MDT

Updated:
05/24/2012 06:48:30 PM MDT

CU students Jonathan Edwards, front, and John Demopoulos, middle, are arrested by Boulder County sheriff's deputies for trespassing on Norlin Quad on April 20, 2012. (Jeremy Papasso / Daily Camera file photo)

John Demoupoulus (Boulder County Sheriff's Office)

The three University of Colorado students arrested on trespassing charges during the Boulder campus' controversial and unprecedented 4/20 closure last month pleaded not guilty Thursday and will ask a municipal judge to dismiss the cases on First Amendment grounds.

John Demoupoulus, 21, Jonathan Edwards, 25, and Gabriel Kuettel, 24, were arrested April 20 when they sat down in protest on Norlin Quad after the university --which already had barred non-students from campus -- closed the field entirely in an effort to quash the annual marijuana smoke-out that in years past drew 10,000 people.

Attorney Sean McAllister, who is representing all three defendants, said he will file a motion to dismiss the charges, saying CU violated their rights.

Jonathan Edwards (Boulder County Sheriff's Office)

"I think the bottom line is you can't shout fire in a crowded theater, but you can stand up for your First Amendment rights in a public place," he said after Thursday's hearing.

The Boulder chapter of the ACLU referred the three defendants to McAllister's firm in Denver, which offered to represent the students pro bono.

While McAllister acknowledged a Boulder district judge already denied a request made before the smoke-out to allow non-students onto the campus for the event, he said his clients are students and that the closure of Norlin Quad was not justified.

He pointed out that a large group of protestors who were not CU students marched onto campus but were not arrested for trespassing. He also added that the maximum sentence for trespassing -- 90 days in jail and $1,000 fine -- was worse than the punishment for possession of marijuana.

"You arrest them, but you allow 500 other people to do the same thing 10 feet away?" McAllister said. "None of these three were even using marijuana. In this case, the solution is worse than the problem. The university spent $250,000 to stop the event. Now the city is spending money to prosecute these individuals."

CU has not yet revealed publicly how much money it spent on this year's efforts to shut down 4/20/

Gabriel Kuettel (Boulder County Sheriff's Office)

The three students did not know each other prior to the incident and that there was no plan, but Demoupoulus said they since have become closer because of the arrest.

"We made friends in jail," he said.

Edwards said the protest was about protecting their First Amendment rights.

"We did it to protect the rights, even for people we disagree with," he said. "For instance, the anti-abortion people have signs with dead fetuses that seem outrageous to a lot of people, but they still have the right to say what they want."

He added that he felt it was ridiculous that as students they were not allowed to access part of the campus on a school day.

"What's funny is we pay tuition, which was used to pay the extra cops," Edwards said. "So we basically paid to have ourselves arrested."

Demoupoulus said he felt it was important to stand up to let university officials know what they were doing was not right.

"Regardless of whether 4/20 should take place, the actions they took were extreme and beyond legal ground," he said. "Where do you draw the line before CU can just throw the legal book out the window?

"I think if you were to ask who was upholding the law, the Constitution would say we were."

A judge will consider the motion to dismiss July 18. Should the motion fail, all three are scheduled to appear before a jury for trial on Aug. 9.

"We're asking the university to do the right thing and dismiss the charges," McAllister said. "I don't think any jury in Boulder would convict them for standing up for their principles. So we will be happy to win at trial if they don't dismiss the charges before then."

CU officials declined to comment, saying they would not discuss an open legal case.

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